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President’s Message August 2018

Our annual Membership Meeting was held Wednesday, August 22nd at the lodge and for those unable to attend, I thought you might like a brief recap of the highlights.

After determining we achieved the required quorum, I provided a summary of the past season, plus board activities since the close of our longest season ever. As a reminder, our last day on the hill was April 22nd, at which time we closed the season with a fantastic closing day party. Pictures of the event are posted on our website in case you weren’t able to attend.

Financially speaking, our club remains fiscally sound as we enter our fourth year of our five-year note. Last fiscal year, ending June 30, 2018, we reduced our debt by $155.K, ending the period with $959.K outstanding. Our current budget plan is to further reduce our debt by another $160.K during the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

I briefly spoke of results of last year’s ski sale and mentioned that this year’s Ski Sale is scheduled to take place Sunday, October 21st., Equipment turn-in will be Friday, Oct. 19th (4:00-6: 30 pm) and Saturday, Oct. 20th. (1:00-3:00pm) providing we have enough volunteers to staff accordingly.

There was a significant amount of Board energy spent on the results of the Membership Survey. After reading through the 134 responses and 465 comments, we decided to make the following changes:

Lots of complaints on dirty dishes and utensils being left in the kitchen, so all will be eliminated with the exception of wine & bottle openers, plus pizza cutters. Please be advised that you will need to bring your own plates, cups, and silverware this coming season.

Crowded conditions within the lodge and on the hill on Tuesday & Thursday Race practice nights also stood out. The Board is looking into options that might allow our SnowSports Instructors to relocate making additional lodge space available. Also, we have thoughts on making space available within the lodge on Tuesday & Thursday Race practice evenings. Further, we have already removed several trees on Long Chute (Woods Run) to afford the Race coaches to relocate a practice run on race nights, thereby opening up more space on Main for General Membership access.

Saturday Adult nights verses Continuous Hours on Saturdays also surfaced as a topic. After recognizing that Saturday Adult night attendance seems on the decline, our Board decided to only schedule two Saturday Adult evenings this coming season (1 in January, 1 in February) and to adopt continuous skiing hours on Saturdays this season.

Now for a bonus! Your Board has been working on options to increase the value of your Ausblick Membership. I’m pleased to announce that we have an agreement with Tamarack Resort, north of Boise Idaho, for the January-March 2019 period. Ausblick Members and their Guests will receive FREE lift tickets when booking lodging directly with the resort. We’re finalizing the details and will publish them when available. And for a local boost, Wildwood Lodge in Pewaukee will be offering a preferred rate for Ausblick Members and their Guests. Details forthcoming.

And as always, I reported on our Club’s Membership status. The 2018-2019 invoices were mailed out a bit late this summer due to our transition upon Vivian’s retirement. I apologize for any inaccuracies as we manage our way through the transition. The process is improving. With regards to the Membership, 507 invoices were mailed out in early July. As of the annual meeting, 359 members renewed their membership while the remainder are pending. It’s important to understand that if you haven’t followed through on sending in your membership renewal, there are 54 pending applications on our Waiting List. Reminders will go out in the near future to those pending, however, if we don’t hear from you, the next step is to send invoices to those applicants waiting to join Ausblick. Our previous season may have renewed interest in Ausblick because we’re receiving applications during the summer months which is very unusual and yet optimistic as we hope for another great snowsports season.

Lastly, three directors were re-elected to another three-year term on the Ausblick Board. Congratulations to Scott Grady-V.P., Mark Wierman-Director, and Mike Guetzke-Director. Congratulations to Abby Horn, our new Ausblick Ski Patrol Representative for the next two seasons replacing Scott Robertson. Thanks, Scott for all your leadership; welcome Abby.

In closing, I appreciate those voting members who sent in their proxy ballots and those who took the time to attend our meeting in person. I personally thank and appreciate our Board Members for their time, efforts and guidance in managing Ausblick over the past year. Most importantly is the recognition General Manager – Dennis Evinrude, Lynn Mallach-SnowSports Director and Outside Operations Manager-Kyle Martola deserve. It’s their leadership along with their respective staff that affords our Membership the experience we enjoy every Snow Sports season, often in spite of the weather.